01/14/2026
Sew Gee's Bend Heritage Builders proudly announces receipt of a $50,000 grant through a national funding program managed by the six U.S. regional arts organizations. Walking Together: Investing in Folklife in Communities of Color supports folklife and traditional arts by investing in artists/practitioners and the community organizations that care for them. This pilot program, administered by Mid Atlantic Arts and the US Regional Arts Organizations (USRAOS), awards significant nonmatching grants to traditional artists, practitioners, nonprofits, local ano Tribal governments, and community organizations and keepers. Walking Together will support awards to ninety-six grantees totaling $3.34 million. Fifty-six organizations will receive a $50,000 grant. Additionally, thirty-six individuals will receive $15,000.
The ability to maintain visionary programs already underway in Gee's Bend while adding new infrastructure and avenues for collaboration and growth represents an enormous opportunity for Sew Gee's Bend Heritage Builders. This grant benefits a community that persevered through many hardships to create works that testify to the endurance of the human spirit. Sew Gee's Bend Heritage Builders seeks out and manages significant corporate sponsorship and individual patronage, as well as collaborating with many dozens of individual participants with different levels of experience to overcome barriers to success. Claudia Pettway Charley, co-founder of Sew Gee's Bend Heritage Builders, says of this award,
"Receiving this grant validates the ongoing work of Sew Gee's
Bend Heritage Builders to create paths to success and improve quality of life for the entrepreneurs and other residents of Gee's Bend, and to empower them to follow their dreams and support their community in a sustainable way."
For more information about Sew Gee's Bend Heritage Builders, please visit sewgeesbendhb.org.
For more information about the annual Airing of the Quilts festival, please visit airingofthequilts.org.
For more information about the Walking Together program and grantees, please visit usregionalarts.org/walkingtogether.